Holcim Inc. announced today that in response to continued economic challenges and market conditions, it will mothball its Catskill, New York cement plant effective June 13, 2011.

Approximately 100 hourly and salaried employees will be affected by this decision.

Mothballing includes ending production operations and securing the plant in such a way that operating permits and equipment will be preserved for possible future operations.

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Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will conduct a multimillion dollar unreserved public auction at the Companys auction site in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 24 – 25, 2011. Over 300 consignors have listed more than 2,200 equipment items and trucks to be sold to the highest bidders on auction day—regardless of price—with no minimum bids or reserve prices. Bidders can bid in person at the site on auction day or online in real time at www.rbauction.com.

The equipment featured in the auction, including a large selection of late model, low-hour gear from all over the U.S., will be the largest number of items ever featured in a Las Vegas auction, surpassing the 1,800 items sold at the auction in February 2010.

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San Diego Gas & Electric, a renewable energy company managed by Tenaska Solar Ventures, announced a 25-year contract for up to 150 megawatts (MW) of solar energy to be generated at the Imperial Solar Energy Center (ISEC) West’s proposed 1,057-acre solar energy facility near El Centro, Calif. This project will create nearly 300 construction jobs in the Imperial Valley during the two-year construction period.

The solar power plant will use Soitec’s Concentrix concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology. In connection with the project’s 25-year contract, Soitec, a company with headquarters in Bernin, France, will build a new factory in the San Diego region to manufacture proprietary CPV modules.

With an annual production capacity of 200 MW, the new manufacturing facility will also have the ability to supply other utility-scale solar power projects throughout the United States’ desert southwest. At full capacity, Soitec’s San Diego area operations will generate up to 450 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirect jobs.

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Lend Lease last Thursday announced that 7-Eleven, Inc. has named the Multi-Site Group its construction service provider of their new construction portfolio across the United States and Canada.  7-Eleven plans to add at least 500 stores in the United States and Canada this year through traditional growth (individual store leases-purchases), business conversions and acquisitions.

The Multi-Site Group’s three-year agreement with 7-Eleven calls for the company to immediately assume responsibility for service delivery for 7-Eleven’s new-store construction, which is spread across the United States and Canada.

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The Graduate School USA announced last Thursday that it has signed an agreement to establish a Center for Education and Training at The Wharf, the new mixed-use waterfront development in Southwest DC.  Washington, DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray, along with Council Chair Kwame Brown, Councilmember Tommy Wells, Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr., and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton were on hand today to announce this major anchor tenant in the new waterfront neighborhood.

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According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, “spending on remodeling probably will rise 9.2 percent to $125.1 billion in the first quarter from $114.6 billion a year earlier.”  According to Bloomberg, “a 13 percent increase forecast for April through June would be the largest jump in five years, referring to a report by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based center.”

Attorney Chris Placitella, partner at the law firm of Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C., is concerned that “as home improvements rise, unknowingly, the majority of Americans will continue to be exposed to asbestos, even in their own homes.  People need to be careful renovating older homes.”

According to the MesotheliomaLegalBlog.com, asbestos on piping and boiler components has been the focus in the past.  Today, a much more dangerous and insidious source of asbestos exposure, is that which results from demolition or altering the drywall board panels that are omnipresent throughout the United States.  From the early 1960s through 1977, a substantial percentage of walls and ceilings constructed in homes and offices used asbestos containing joint compound to fill the seams or joints between wall board panels.

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The California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DIR/DAS) has issued a debarment and civil penalties totaling $512,700 against Christopher J. Augusto, dba Christopher J Augusto Plumbing Company.

The Marin County contractor, whose contractor’s license was revoked last May by the Contractor’s State License Board, is also prohibited from bidding on or receiving any public works contracts in California until 2013. The debarment applies to Augusto individually as well as any business entities in which he has an ownership interest or management responsibility. This is the second time action has been taken against Augusto by DAS in a three year debarment order.

A DAS complaint investigation filed by the Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Unions 38 and 159 found that Augusto failed to comply with the requirements for contractors on public works jobs to secure training opportunities for apprentices, breaching the terms of a settlement agreement reached in its first debarment.

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Newberry College is continuing a series of campus-wide initiatives to further enhance the academic, social and cultural experience for students, faculty and staff members. Over the past several months, Newberry has been working with West Electrical Contractors of Newberry, Inc. on a variety of capital improvement projects, while continuing construction and renovation on select buildings.

Earlier this semester, Newberry celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new fitness center as part of the College’s Campus Wellness Initiative. Also newly opened is an athletic training and sports medicine center for student-athletes.

A new Student Welcome Center will include space for a new admissions and financial aid office. These departments were previously housed in Holland Hall.

The Alumni Music Center is anticipating a renovation of its front lobby and recital hall as the beginning of an initiative to improve the resources for Newberry’s Music Department. The Center houses a 150-seat recital hall, practice rooms, a band room, offices, and classrooms.

A new residential living space for students will open with the renovation of Oakland Mills. Built in 1912, this historic building, the last mill standing in Newberry County, was purchased in 2009 by Newberry College to house its first group of students for the fall 2013 semester.

Other overall improvements have taken place on campus as well, including landscaping projects and various interior renovations, such as the planned renovation of Summerland Reception room in Smeltzer Hall, the oldest building on campus.

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The Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) today announced the purchase of a two-acre parcel of land along west Denver’s FasTracks light rail corridor that will be developed to include the new west Denver library, a mixed-use workforce housing development, and commercial space. The acquisition is expected to provide opportunity for additional transit oriented development near  light rail stations.

ULC purchased a portion of the parcel for $2.14 million using Denver’s transit oriented development (TOD) fund. The TOD fund is set up specifically for acquiring land near existing or future light rail stops and high frequency bus routes.

This is the first TOD fund in the country, helping Denver ensure that when property values go up around areas of transit oriented development, lower-income residents are not pushed out of the housing market.

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Loyola Marymount University’s 20-year Master Plan was unanimously approved with a 12-0 vote by the Los Angeles City Council on Friday.

The plan allows the university to make needed campus improvements over the next 20 years within LMU’s existing footprint. The plan includes building the new Life Sciences Building for the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering, relocating the recycling facility and adding parking spaces.

LMU President David W. Burcham said, “We can now make the infrastructure upgrades to laboratories, classrooms and other facilities that will support the educational needs of future students and faculty.  This is a great day for LMU.”

Lynne Scarboro, LMU’s senior vice president for administration, said passage of the plan means that over the next 20 years, LMU will add more than 15,000 jobs to the Los Angeles area and an estimated $1.6 billion in economic activity.

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